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Bardiya

File:Gaumata_portrait_on_the_Behistun_inscription.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as Gaumata

Bardiya or Smerdis ( ; ; possibly died 522 BCE), also named as Tanyoxarces (; ) by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. Bardiya either ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BCE, or was impersonated by a magus called Gaumata ( ), whose name is given by Ctesias as Sphendadates (; ), until he was toppled by Darius the Great.

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Key facts

Royalty.name
Bardiya𐎲𐎼𐎮𐎡𐎹
Royalty.image
Gaumata portrait on the Behistun inscription.jpg
Royalty.caption
Portrait of the Achaemenid ruler toppled by Darius, as appearing on the Behistun inscription: he was either the legitimate Bardiya, or, as claimed by Darius, an imposter named Gaumāta.
Royalty.succession
King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire,Pharaoh of Egypt
Royalty.reign
522 BC
Royalty.predecessor
Cambyses II
Royalty.successor
Darius the Great
Royalty.burial_date
522 BC
Royalty.spouse
Phaedymia
Royalty.issue
Parmys
Royalty.dynasty
Achaemenid (Teispid)
Royalty.father
Cyrus the Great
Royalty.mother
Cassandane
Royalty.religion
Zoroastrianism

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Wikidata facts

Image
Bisotun Iran Relief Achamenid Period.JPG
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date of death
0522-09-29
Commons category
Smerdis
P12749
Kosiorowo
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Article

8 sections
Contents
  • Name and sources
  • Traditional view
  • In Herodotus' ''Histories''
  • In Ctesias' ''Persica''
  • Modern view
  • Aftermath
  • Bardiya in fiction
  • References

Bardiya or Smerdis ( ; ; possibly died 522 BCE), also named as Tanyoxarces (; ) by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. Bardiya either ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BCE, or was impersonated by a magus called Gaumata ( ), whose name is given by Ctesias as Sphendadates (; ), until he was toppled by Darius the Great.

==Name and sources== The prince's name is listed variously in the historical sources. In Darius the Great's Behistun inscription, his Persian name is Bardiya or Bardia. Herodotus calls him Smerdis, which is the prevalent Greek form of his name; the Persian name has been assimilated to the Greek (Asiatic) name Smerdis or Smerdies, a name which also occurs in the poems of Alcaeus and Anacreon. Bardiya is called Tanyoxarces by Ctesias, who also names Gaumāta as Sphendadates; he is called Tanooxares by Xenophon, who takes the name from Ctesias, and he is called Mergis and Merdis by Justin and Merdis by Aeschylus.

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